Capitalism

Capitalism is an economic ideology based on private ownership of the means of production; in capitalism, people make profits from the surplus value of their earnings. Core tenets of capitalism include private property, free markets, competition, wage labor, capital accumulation, and a price system based on supply and demand. Capitalism as a system has allowed for several people to become very wealthy at the expense of the workers, leading to the rise of socialism and communism in opposition to some of the unfair results of the capitalist system. By the 21st century, mixed capitalist systems dominated the West, combining free markets with state intervention.